Montclair, NJ (11/6/06) – Junior forward JENNIFER TANIS (Oak Ridge, NJ/Jefferson) had a goal and an assist as top-seeded Montclair State knocked off No. 8 FDU-Florham in the opening round of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Mid-Atlantic Field Hockey Championship with a 3-1 victory at Sprague Field on Wednesday evening.

Senior KRISTEN SWARTZ (Hatboro, PA / Hatboro-Horsham) had a goal for the Red Hawks (15-3), who will now host the Final Four of the tournament on Saturday, November 11 at Sprague Field. MSU will face No. 4 seed Catholic (DC) (12-7) in the first game at 5:00 pm followed by the second semifinal between No. 2 Johns Hopkins University (14-6) and sixth-seeded University of Rochester (13-6) at 7:30 pm.  Earlier in the day, Catholic downed fifth-seeded William Paterson, 2-1 while Rochester upset No. 3 seed Widener, 3-2 in Chester, PA. Johns Hopkins reached the semis as it defeated No. 7 Wesley (DE), 5-1 in Baltimore.

Junior forward Krystle Birmingham (Pine Hills, NJ/Overbrook) had a goal for FDU-Florham, which finished its season at 13-8.

Freshman JUSTINE DIPAOLO (Lanoka Harbor, NJ/Lacey) snapped a scoreless tie at the 21:18 mark as she collected her third goal of the season. DiPaolo collected a ball at the 20 yard line and drove the final distance before flipping in a shot past goalkeeper Jamie SanFilippo (Succasunna, NJ/Roxbury) for a 1-0 Montclair State lead.  The Red Hawks extended the lead in similar fashion with 36 seconds to play before halftime. Tanis, the NJAC's leading scorer, moved along the left side before crossing over into the center of the field and letting go of a shot that ducked inside the left post for her 23rd of the year as MSU held a two-goal lead at intermission.

In the second half, the Devils pulled within a goal. After MSU's JACQUIE SUPKO (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) made a pair of saves, FDU-Florham was awarded a penalty corner. Off the corner, Marissa Yosen (Havertown, PA/Haverford) flipped a pass to Birmingham, whose shot from the left side dove inside the near post for her 12th tally of the season.

Montclair State regained the momentum and after three saves by goalkeeper Kathryn Sunderhauf (Sewell, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) and a defensive stop by Christina Fabian (Norwalk, CT/Norwalk), the Red Hawks finally converted as Swartz collected her 15th of the year off an assist from Tanis, who moved in from the right side before backhanding the ball to Swartz in front of the cage.

Supko finished with six saves for Montclair State, which is making its seventh appearance in the ECAC Mid-Atlantic Championship. The Red Hawks have won the championship twice (1990 and 2001).

Sunderhauf had five saves for the Devils over the final 35 minutes after SanFilippo stopped two in the first half.

Montclair State outshot FDU-Florham, 16-13 and held an 8-5 advantage in penalty corners.